episode_0517

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What could it be?

Just this morning, she’d been unusually proactive, but whether it was the Seol Da-bin I used to know or the Seol Da-bin I reunited with today after so long…

From the moment she opened the front door until now, sitting at the dining table—

There doesn’t seem to be any glaring difference.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, whatever… By the way, I went to a hot spring resort with Hayun noona for Christmas. Well, Christmas Eve, to be exact.”

“We talked about that weeks ago.”

Could it really just be me being overly sensitive?

I had been closely observing Da-bin’s demeanor since earlier, and now, pretending nothing was amiss, I started stirring my coffee mix absentmindedly.

“You wouldn’t know the details, right?”

“Hayun told me about it? She said it was her first time there, and the pool was filled with hot spring water, so it was warm~ Something like that…”

“I guess she told her friends all about that hot spring trip, huh? Though, to be fair, the facilities were pretty nice—probably because it was pricey.”

“……”

“But you don’t honestly think we stayed in the hot spring for 24 hours straight, do you?”

“That part doesn’t interest me.”

And yet—

A woman who, on camera, exchanges all sorts of embarrassing words with me.

But off-camera, a woman who only exchanges necessary words with me.

No matter what, a woman who remains endlessly prickly toward me by default.

Yet a woman who visibly falters at the slightest compliment calling her cute.

Summarizing the Seol Da-bin I’ve perceived so far, that would be about it.

Even now, it’s the same.

From the moment she opened the door until now, hasn’t she been utterly incapable of approaching anything resembling warmth?

But then, for the man she loves, her excuse for not filming one more NTR scene was…

That it might have resulted in something easily misunderstood.

Like Baek Seo-yeon said, phrasing it that way would only excite Baek Ji-ho more.

Like Yozora said, perhaps to cautiously ask if even misunderstandings might be acceptable.

Of the two, the more likely one—

Was definitely the former.

Thinking objectively, it was probably just a superficial remark tossed out for her boyfriend’s sake.

“Was it after getting out of the hot spring for the first time? She asked me if I thought her skin felt smoother after it.”

“—No, I don’t car…”

“But noona and Jiyun already have nice skin to begin with, so even if you ran your hands over them, you wouldn’t really feel much difference…”

“…Guess she was there with them too.”

“Between people who know the situation, it’s obvious, isn’t it?”

So.

There’s no need to entertain pointless expectations.

“Anyway, after getting a facial from both of them, I definitely felt smoother.”

“A fa…, …Oh, the breast thing.”

“Yeah. They spat out a little saliva first, but even with a pretty strong pressure, it still slid right off.”

“……”

“It felt like just something fun for the eyes before, but surprisingly, it was really nice this time.”

“Sigh… What kind of things is she even doing with another woman, much less her own sister…?”

…Kinda makes me wanna try it too.

What she mentioned—something so blatant that even getting misunderstood by her boyfriend was justified.

Back then, I really thought I could go at it all day.

“They’ve both got decent-sized chests, after all. Though of course, compared to yours, they’re a bit smaller.”

“That sexual harassment came out way too naturally. Save those creepy remarks for when we’re filming.”

“I meant it as a compliment.”

“Then what if I compared your dick size to Baek Ji-ho’s—”

“I’d obviously love that?”

“…You’re such a fucking pervert…”

Just what was Seol Da-bin thinking when she came here today?

Was there any way to subtly tease it out of her?

Amidst my curiosity-laden thoughts, we exchanged words for a while.

Her mug was already half-empty, though the drink should’ve still been quite hot.

As I gazed at the cocoa inside, I took occasional sips of my steaming coffee before speaking.

“No man would dislike hearing that you enjoyed it more with him than your boyfriend.”

“Don’t sneak in your lies. I only compared sizes—not a word about who felt better.”

With that, Da-bin lightly tapped my shin with the toe of her white sock.

In my past memories, those feet effortlessly took down all sorts of villains.

Now, I gently pressed her sole with mine to stop her, then continued.

“It was just an example. Either way, between us, I’m the only guy who’s ever had sex with you. I made sure of it myself.”

“Hu—… Sigh… Well, maybe Baek Ji-ho would’ve enjoyed it more. His tastes are just weird like that.”

“But didn’t you say he was smaller?”

“…What do you want me to do about that?”

But as expected.

The moment I jabbed at her sore spot again, the flustered Seol Da-bin pulled her foot free and began kicking the top of my foot with her heel.

Not that it hurt—it was barely anything.

Still just playful territory.

And so, once again, I stepped on her foot to stop her, then remarked—

“In contrast, you tried to secretly buy some weird dildo last time—”

“W-Wait, stop. I get it. Let’s just drop this here.”

Unable to counter that one, Da-bin waved an emphatic white flag after glaring at me.

Though, as I said earlier, her expression was absolutely not one of remorse.

Soon after, she began nervously gulping down the rest of her cocoa.

Anyone could tell it was a warning—if I teased her further, she’d just snap and break my shin this time.

So I quietly sipped from my own mug instead.

“……”

And so, somehow, we ended up in a brief silence, drinking cocoa and coffee.

Outside the window, softly watching the snowflakes drift down from the sky. Quietly.

Glancing at the white steam rising from the stout electric kettle. Quietly.

Occasionally, our gazes met by chance before quickly falling away. Quietly.

Like it was just another mundane slice of life.

“……Umm, hey…”

After a while, Da-bin was the first to finish her drink.

Wiping her lips with her fingers as if checking for stray drops, she glanced at my still-half-full mug and spoke.

“…Want another one?”

Asked might not be the right word—more like declared.

Given that she was already pulling out another stick from the cupboard before waiting even a second, she clearly hadn’t planned to ask for permission in the first place.

“How much water did you say was best again?”

“I’ll just make it for you. Hold on…”

“…And next time, prepare some milk too. Cocoa tastes better with it.”

“If you put milk in the electric kettle, it’d scorch black.”

“You can just microwave the milk separately. Are you stupid?”

“……”

Guess I should buy some milk.

With that brief thought, I handed her the mug filled with cocoa.

It was nice that our casual conversation picked up where it left off, but unfortunately, I hadn’t gathered much useful info.

At most, it was just a bit about Da-bin’s food preferences.

Not useless, but far from what I really wanted to know.

…Come to think of it,

Why bother fishing for answers when I could just find out when we have sex later?

The thought crossed my mind just as this whole endeavor was starting to feel tedious.

“…Seo Woo-jin.”

Da-bin called out to me again as she took the mug.

I turned my gaze toward her.

“…There’s something I’m curious about. Can I ask?”

“Depends on how hard it is to answer.”

“Mmm… It’s kind of a hard one, I think.”

“Then I’ll hear it first and decide.”

Maybe she didn’t actually need cocoa earlier—maybe she just wanted to ask something.

As I carelessly jumped to conclusions, Da-bin hesitated before speaking.

“…I was thinking we could film a little differently today… …Would that be okay?”

“Differently?”

“…Yeah.”

“How so?”

“Well…”

Ah, so this is what she was getting at.

The moment I sensed the mood, I roughly guessed what was coming and sighed internally.

…Looks like Baek Seo-yeon was right, not Yozora.

“Up until now, it’s been more like… you were just having sex with me in place of my boyfriend, right?”

“That’s how it was.”

“But today, I was thinking… like before. Like you’re stealing his girlfriend. Baek Ji-ho said he’d prefer that too…”

“……”

“For example, saying you… love me. Or telling me to just break up with Baek Ji-ho…”

“……”

“…God, saying it out loud is so humiliating I could die. But can you do it?”

The fact that she was outright asking for this—

Instead of letting it happen naturally while filming—

Meant she wasn’t actually trying to do something that could be genuinely misunderstood.

She just wanted to fake it.

Purely to provoke her boyfriend.

“So you want it to feel more real than what we filmed last time.”

“Of course, I won’t just sit there taking it. I’ve got some embarrassing lines ready too.”

“Embarrassing lines?”

“Like… being with you feels better than being with Baek Ji-ho. That kind of thing…”

“…Ah. That.”

So it’s just acting, then.

Baek Ji-ho probably allowed this much—

No, not allowed—he probably asked for it, wanting to see it.

Still, was it really that hard for her to say?

Her ears flushed red as she fumbled over her words, still nervously gauging my reaction.

I studied her eyes for a moment.

“I’m fine with it. Gives me an excuse to fuck you more earnestly.”

“I-It’s just acting, okay? I’m only doing this to show Baek Ji-ho—”

“Is that so?”

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I don’t like you.”

I nodded.

“……”

From the moment I first met you,

Up until now.

I never planned to obediently follow your every whim—

Like some well-trained mutt.

I’ve always done things my way.

And as I stared into your eyes,

A fitting idea came to mind.